The garrison town of Corte will act as a centre to both these districts. It is reached by a four hours’ rail journey from either Bastia or Ajaccio.
A steamship service connects Bastia with Leghorn three times a week (five hours’ crossing). Fairly frequent services likewise connect Ajaccio with Nice (twelve hours) and with Marseilles (sixteen hours). The approach to Corsica by all three routes is magnificent, especially that of Nice to Ajaccio. It is well worth while to make this crossing by a day service.
From Corte a good camping centre at the head of the Restonica valley, in the heart of the Rotondo group, can be reached in four hours (mule-track most of the way).
The true centre of the Cinto group is Calacuccia. This village can be reached from Corte in six hours, walking over the Col de la Rinella; but there is no mule-track. The view from this Col embraces practically the whole Cinto group. An alternative route, advisable when it is necessary to transport baggage, is from Corte to Francardo (half an hour’s rail), and thence in three hours by carriage (postal service, or hired conveyance, 15 francs) to Calacuccia. Convenient camping centres in the Rodda, Erco, Viro and Golo valleys can thence be reached in from three to five hours.
For the northern slopes of the Cinto group Asco is the best centre (three hours by road from the railway station, Ponte Leggia). This village also serves as a base for the magnificent chain of mountains running eastwards from Monte Padro (2400 metres) to Monte Corona (2143 metres), and thence in a southerly direction to Punta Minuta (2547 metres) in the Cinto group. To the north of Monte Padro lies the Tartagine valley, at the head of which is the Capo al Dente (2032 metres), one of the most sporting peaks in the island. A number of unclimbed peaks close in the valley to the north. The approach to the Tartagine valley is rather troublesome. From Palasca (on the Bastia-Calvi railway line) via Mausoléo to the maison forestière, the best centre, takes eight to ten hours by a good road.
Other groups offering good climbing and an abundance of ‘first ascents’ and ‘new routes’ are the Monte d’Oro and Monte Renoso groups. Vizzavona, the centre for both these ranges, boasts of good hotel accommodation, and can be reached in three hours by rail from Ajaccio and in one hour from Corte.
The above-mentioned mountain groups are those which will attract the climber most of all. They offer almost endless possibilities for first-rate climbing over both known and virgin ground. With the exception of Monte Renosa, the main mountain groups lie to the east of the Ajaccio-Bastia railway, and for this reason most climbers prefer to approach the mountains from the east, from Corte, the half-way station on the line. There is, however, little to choose between the eastern and western slopes—both offer high-class climbing, and preference might now well be given to the western slopes, as here much more remains to be accomplished in the way of pioneer work. As a general rule, camp centres for climbing on the western slopes of the d’Oro, Rotondo, Cinto and Corona groups are best reached by crossing the main chains from Corte. In these cases the mountaineer will have to act as his own beast of burden unless the route be entirely free from snow, which is very unlikely in the spring.
There are a great number of mountain groups either of minor importance or difficult of access (the Incudine, 2136 metres; Punta di Capella, 2044; etc.), but as a rule from the climbing point of view they are of little interest. Mention should be made of the chain of hills, attaining heights of over 1300 metres, which forms the backbone of the promontory of Cap Corse. The main ridge can be traversed throughout its length in one long day from Bastia, and the splendour of the views down on to the Mediterranean and towards the ranges of the interior is beyond all description.[27]
Nature of the Climbing.
There are no glaciers in Corsica, though in the Cinto and Rotondo groups snow-patches occasionally survive the summer’s heat. Both these groups show marked traces of glacier action. The ice work is limited to cutting in ice-choked chimneys and to clearing rocks. Long, steep, hard-frozen snow slopes necessitating a sustained use of the axe are seldom encountered, and ice-claws may safely be dispensed with. On the other hand, ski might prove to be of great value, as the return on foot from a climb over the long slopes of soft snow lying on the ‘maquis’ is often very trying. Devotees of ski-ing will find plenty of splendid ground, especially on the eastern and southern slopes of the Cinto group.